If they are the old Accu Paint formula they'd get my business, IMHO that stuff could have run Floquil out of the market years ago if it wasn't for the floquil name ingrained the model railroader mindset. However as I've said, you just can't get the stuff outside of the good old U.S. of A., I'd gladly drive 8 hours each way to get some if I had even that option. What really sucks about all this is that a couple of weeks ago I bought a new compressor and airbrush to get back into painting, now it looks like my last bottle of Santa Fe Mineral Brown could really be my last.
Been setting and thinking about this for awhile and realized that I am in fairly good shape. I have enough paint to do a few diesels I might want later but for the most part my emphasis is on steam as in basic black. So danged near any black will do me. I've long since developed my fleet of home road cars so now I just fill in the blanks with already painted and decaled cars. My push now is structures and a few more ships that the basic naval colors will do me. I do feel the pain though of the newer folks who are just starting out and have to suddenly scrounge around for the basic stuff like paint.
I don't have this for fact but it was posted on another forum that Tru-Color is an RPM company or at least their paints are made for them by one of the RPM plants. I wonder if this was their plan all along, to drop Floquil to give Tru-Color a boost. Again, only going on what another poster has stated. That still leaves those of us who want non solvent based paints stuck with buying Tamiya.
I was chatting with Jim Wiggins this morning and he had several good thing to say about Tru-Color. So I ordered a couple of bottles from a seller on Ebay [Do a search for Tru-Color] for the same price as I could get them straight from Tru-Color. House of Trains should be able to ship to you for about the same price.
How many clueless MBAs did it take to formulate Floquil New York City Jade Green? http://www.testors.com/products/571216
Here are the companies that they own that comes right from the RPM website. These are their consumer companies: [TABLE] [TR] [TD="align: left"]DAP [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Fibregrid [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Kirker Enterprises [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Modern Masters [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]New Parks [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]OKON [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Rust-Oleum [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Rust-Oleum Mathys [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Synta [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Testors [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Tor Coatings [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Varathane [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Watco [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Wolman Wood Care [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"]Zinsser [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] These are the industrial comapnies: [TABLE] [TR] [TD="align: left"] AD Fire Protection [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Agpro (N.Z.) [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Alteco Technik [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] API [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Ascoat [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Canam [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Carboline [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Dane Group [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Ecoloc [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Euclid Chemical [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] FEMA Farben [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Fibergrate [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Flowcrete Group [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Grupo PV [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Hummervoll [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Increte Systems [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Legend Brands [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Mantrose-Haeuser [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Nullifire [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] PDS [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Radiant Color [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Republic [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] RPM Belgium [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] RPM Building Solutions [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] RPM Performance Coatings [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Stonhard [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Vandex [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Stonkleen [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Tremco Barrier [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Tremco-illbruck [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] USL [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] Viapol [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: left"] WTI [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Ryan
Actually,being screen printed,they don't even use a press.Unless they're some type of screen printing I'm not familiar with,it's done with a totally different,way cheaper machine,and way cheaper and easier to set up.I haven't done screen printing,but I've seen it done..The ink is literally squeegied through a screen onto the paper..Actual multi color printing on a press is much more involved..By the way,I was a print shop/bindery mechanic for 10 years.I used to work on Heidelberg 5 color sheet fed presses.. So here's a stupid question..How much does Microscale charge for 250 sheets?
I know it's a pain getting use to something new, but there will always be somebody willing to step up and move into a demand when it exists. And more than likely, it is often somebody much more willing to listen to people than the big guys were. So I take things like this as a blessing in disguise. For me personally, I have no problem with ModelFlex, but I guess I'm a minority. Then again, like a lot of people, I barely have any time to make models anymore anyway... which I guess is kind of the problem.
Trust me guys you will like Tru-Color, pre-thinned, easy to spray, nice semi gloss finish ready for decaling. Yes it is based on the old Accu Paint I learned on in 1986. Pictures do better than talk so my latest projects painted in Tru-Color: Already Tru-Color has a better color selection.
If it is based on Accu Paint, then it is not a paint it is an INK, as that is what Accu Paint was! Rick J
From a hobbyshop perspective, the big problem with these going away is convenience. Our shop makes multiple orders from multiple distributors every week. All of theses distributors carried the now missing paints. It was easy to keep our paint rack full and if a customer needed something we were out of, it was only a day or two away. We didn't have to order 6 or 12 bottles at a time, we didn't have minimum orders to make as they were tacked on to existing orders. We could keep paint fresher because we didn't have to stock 12 deep, knowing that we could get more next week. As a shop, it's going to be difficult to switch over to a paint with no distribution chain. With only one source, we need to stock deeper and make fewer orders which means there are times product will be missing from the shelves between cycles. One of the things we strive for at our shop is to never let the paint racks go empty. If we carry a line of paint, we carry every color. That may now be a thing of the past as it will be much harder to keep on top of. As a shop, we just lost $1000 a week in potential sales of a product that was constantly there, easy to maintain, and well liked. We didn't have to "sell it", we just needed to stock it. Items like this are what keeps shops afloat through the rough times.
Jim, How bad is the odor from Tru-Color? How about the drying time? It's been a really loooong time since I last sprayed a solvent based paint and I'd be worried about being banished to the great outdoors. I do all of my painting with an airbrush in the basement where the booth is located, but all of my detailing is done in the living room. Wife prefers me to be in the same room at night, so I have my detailing desk against the back wall. Solvent based paint is a game changer there because of the potential smell (at least based on my Floquil memories...) Thanks, Brian P.S. Can't get this stuff overseas anyway, so I'll have to wait until I get back to the U.S. to try it.
I believe you are referring to True Line Trains paint from Canada. On their web site it says "Blended by the RPM Corporation". RPM is Testors.
Thanks Pete. That's where I had my wires crossed. Now, who makes Tru-Color? It's not like there are a huge amount of available sources to have paint manufactured. I have a friend in the industry but he does dyes for the printing industry and no OEM/Consumer market applications.
???? Pete, who's this directed at? True Line is acrylic based and I've used it numerous times. Great stuff, but Canadian focused on colors. Tru-Color is a solvent based paint made by a different company not in any way related to RPM. Edit: Tony and I posted at the same time and I see where it was from on page 13 now..... Tru-Color is believed to be made by the same guys (or at least one of them) that operates the Freight Yard in Arizona. www.trucolorpaint.com Brian
Based, not a carbon copy of. I'm not a chemeist so read this: http://www.trucolorpaint.com/index.php?p=1_21_Chemistry And some back ground on Tru-Color: http://www.trucolorpaint.com/index.php?p=1_4_About-Tru-Color-Paint Frankly, I don't give a damn if it is made of INK, or soda water. The pictures show the stuff works and works well. I don't see how your comment ads to the discusion. I mearly pointed out what I have learned by reading the Tru-Color Web site, their sales literature and the actual USE of said product.
The paint is solvent so it does have a solvent smell, personally I would not use it in the situation you describe. I spray my Tru-Color in a spray booth in a ventilated front enclosed porch. For weathering, check out Tamiya acrylics. Since they do colors for military and figures, they have colors that will work for weathering. I have also had success in using war gamer acrylic paints. The names are funny but they accomplish the same thing.
And that's what I miss most about not having a real hobby shop near by. The staples of the workbench. Commodities for consumption. It kills me to get started on a project and find that I need one more piece of Plastruct shape, a few more drops of paint, or a 5 more packages of clapboard siding because I royally screwed up cutting every window opening. I'm sure a hobby shop can't survive on peanuts and popcorn, if noting else its probably fairly predictable (if only meager) recurring revenue. It's possible I might even pre-order something while I'm in there picking up a new track nipper. Gosh its frustrating to have to sit on my hands for a week and wait for a single bottle of paint to be shipped from 3 states away. Insult to injury, while that is en route I inevitably run out of something else and have to place another order...
